FOXBORO – On Saturday, Bill Belichick said he and the rest of his staff were surprised when they saw Florida guard Jon Halapio still on the board in the sixth round.

FOXBORO – On Saturday, Bill Belichick said he and the rest of his staff were surprised when they saw Florida guard Jon Halapio still on the board in the sixth round.

So was he.

When the Patriots drafted Halapio with the 179th pick, it a lifted a weight off the back of this 6-foot-3, 323-pound offensive lineman. But it also added a chip on his shoulder.

“Yeah, it did,” Halapio said. “The situation that I was in was different for me because everybody believed I slipped because of my injuries. Everybody said the same thing, surprised that I was still on the board and everything. You know, I’m past all that. I’m glad I’m here. This is the right fit for me and I’m just excited to go to work.”

Though Halapio’s injury history made his draft stock fall, there should be something said for the toughness he displayed.

He played last season with a torn pectoral muscle. In 2010, he missed only one game after suffering a compound fracture of his finger. Halapio has also played with a torn hamstring, knee and back pain, and — most unusual — a gouged eye.

The offensive lineman missed the first two games of the Gators’ season last year due to the pectoral tear, but returned in Week Three against Tennessee. During the game, a defensive lineman’s finger got lodged in Halapio’s eye.

He missed a few snaps because he needed stitches. With his eye swollen shut, he returned to the game.

“I had an eye-gouge situation and played through a game,” Halapio said. “It was just swollen shut, but the next day it went down so it wasn’t anything serious.”

When asked about his ability to play through pain, this St. Petersburg, Fla., native credited it to his passion for football.

“Just the love of the game. I just love playing football,” Halapio said. “My mentality is to just play until I can’t play anymore.”

Fond memories

When Asa Watson got the news that the Patriots were signing him as an undrafted free agent, the timing was perfect.

He was out to eat at a restaurant in Charlotte, N.C., with family for Mother’s Day. When his older brother, former Patriots tight end Benjamin Watson, heard the news, he immediately tackled his younger sibling.

Benjamin Watson, now with the New Orleans Saints, got drafted by the Patriots in the first round of the 2004 Draft. Asa was in eighth grade at the time. For six seasons the Watson family came to Foxboro and Asa, a tight end from North Carolina State, has plenty of good memories surrounding the Pats.

He remembers sitting in his living with his father and watching the Pats in the 2005 AFC Divisional Playoff game, against the Denver Broncos. He’ll never forget his father’s reaction when Benjamin ran down Champ Bailey to save a touchdown.

“I was watching TV, I remember sitting on the couch, I thought the play was over,” Watson said. “All of the sudden my dad jumps up and said, ‘Look at Benjamin! Look at Benjamin!’ He chased down Champ Bailey. It was amazing.”

He was also in the stands in 2006, when Doug Flutie converted the first drop-kick field goal in the NFL since 1941.

“I remember that vividly,” Watson said. “Just sitting up in the stands, and now I’m like actually here, actually a part of it. It’s really cool.”

Ready to adjust

A few days ago, Zach Moore was at Concordia University in St. Paul, Minn. By Sunday, he was in Foxboro as a member of the New England Patriots.

One would think there would be a big adjustment for a Division II athlete coming to the NFL, but Moore said that isn’t so. The defensive end, who was selected 198th overall in the sixth round, comes to the Patriots with plenty of confidence.

“I guess that’ll be determined here in a few days,” Moore said. “I don’t think it’s going to be a big adjustment. I think I belong and I’m going to prove I belong.”